


Thief

by Lunarisss



Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: F/F, also princess!anadil is the best thing ever, also slightly ooc im sorry, be gay do crimes medieval version, lets just pretend this is how medieval society works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26378161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarisss/pseuds/Lunarisss
Summary: Hester was a thief. A very good one, to say at least. Not a random street pickpocket, she had way too much potential for that. She's stolen from barons, viscounts, earls and dukes. But that time, she tried to aim even higher.---Medieval fairytale AUSlightly inspired by The insanely sad princess
Relationships: Anadil/Hester (The School for Good and Evil)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	Thief

Hester was a thief. A very good one, to say at least. Not a random street pickpocket, she had way too much potential for that. She's stolen from barons, viscounts, earls and dukes. But that time, she tried to aim even higher.

That's why she was trying to climb over the fence to the palace's gardens. She knew exactly what she was doing, having done this many times before, but her clothing, much bigger than she needed, betrayed her and got hung on one of the spikes. She cursed all the tailors in the country for not making women's pants, forcing her to steal clothes from men bigger than her. As she struggled to take it off, her hand slipped and she fell ungraciously onto the ground.

She cursed and tried to figure out how badly she had been hurt. Fortunately, it would only end up with a few bruises. When she was getting up and brushing off fallen leaves, she heard quiet laughing.

She looked around the garden, only illuminated by the moon and stars to look for the source of the voice. Finally, she saw a pale woman, around the same age as her, pale as the stars in the sky, sitting on branches of the largest tree there.

“Very funny,” she muttered.

“Should I ask what are you doing in the royal gardens?” asked the stranger, her voice cold and raspy.

“Should I ask the same question?”

“I live here. You're trespassing.”

Hester carefully examined her, she was wearing normal, peasant clothing, but she looked much cleaner than regular women. Maybe she was a maid?

“What if I left really quickly and you wouldn't call the guards?”

“Calm down, I'm not calling anyone. But it would be nice if you stayed for a bit, I'm lonely.”

“Midnight isn't the best time to talk to people.”

“It's not the best time to sneak into royal gardens either, but you're here.”

Hester wanted to turn away and leave, but for reasons unknown to her, she chose to stay and slowly climbed onto the tree next to the mysterious woman.

From close distance, Hester realised she was naturally really pale, her skin was the beauty ideal so many women tried hard to achieve with makeup. (Only for the small price of lead poisoning, of course) She was quite striking too, reminding her of a porcelain doll or a painting, just a pure work of art.

“With looks like that, she could easily be one of the king's mistresses. But that would mean she wouldn't be dressed in maid clothes, right?” thought Hester, but she realised there was no point in thinking about it too much.

She simply asked: “What do you work as in the palace?”

“Wouldn't say I exactly work,” she said, clearly amused by the thought.

“What do you mean?”

“You probably aren't from around here, right?”

“No,” Hester admitted.

“I'm the eldest daughter of Richard II.”

Hester almost choked on air. Of course, only someone with her bad luck could choose such a terrible time to try to steal from the palace. “I'm sorry your, uhm, majesty.”

“If you want to be proper, it's “your royal highness” actually.”

Hester couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but she quickly said: “My apologies.”

She just shrugged. “Good for you that I'm not in the mood for executions.” Yes, she was definitely being sarcastic.

“The name is Anadil. You've probably heard of me, considering that I'm the first in the line for the throne. And you are?” She eyed her in expectation.

“Hester. Just Hester without any fancy titles.” She looked at Anadil to see her reaction, but she just let out a small laugh, which Hester took as a good sign.

“I thought the king had a son too?” Hester asked.

“Quite a few actually, but illegitimate, so they don't really matter.”

“So I'm talking to the future queen of Bloodbrook?”

“In the best case, yes, in the worst case, I'll die before my parents do. But please, put all the formalities aside, I'm not in the mood for that.”

“That's a very unqueenly thing to say.”

“A queenly thing would be to call the guards.”

“Well, how can you be sure I won't try to assassinate you?”

“You're unarmed.”

“You don't know that,” said Hester, in fact, unarmed.

“If you had a weapon, you'd draw it the second you figure out you aren't alone in here. If you wanted to assassinate me, you'd at least recognise me. Or at least you'd skip the small talk and just stab me.”

Hester listened, one part of her impressed and the other part angry at how a girl who's spent all her life in a palace thought more quickly than she did.

“I still can push you off the tree.”

“Try that and I'll slit your throat,” she said, pointing to a dagger, tied to her dress in a small pocket.

“I can see why you're lonely.”

“I forgot not trying to die is a bad thing.”

“You can't do anything interesting if you don't want to die.”

“Give me one good example.”

“See that carriage over there?”

“It's lord Grey's. Why?”

“Let's steal it.”

“You can't just steal stuff without a reason.”

“Of course you can.”

“It's illegal.”

“It's not illegal if you don't get caught. You're just too afraid of dying to do it.”

“That's not how it works.”

“Coward.”

Anadil seemed to consider it for a while, but then she shrugged. “I'll do it.”

Hester was surprised, she didn't really expect her to say yes, but she said what she said and she couldn't back down now. She made sure to never show weakness in front of other people. Well, especially in front of other people that were also female and gorgeous.

“Do you have any idea what to do?”

“Yes, because I steal carriages daily. Don't worry, I'm a fast learner.”

“Bet that's what your tutors say to not get beheaded.”

Anadil smirked. “Well, they say I'm their best student, which of course isn't that hard, considering that I'm their only student.”

“You're going to serve as a distraction.”

“Fantastic.”

“Knew you'd love it.”

“And what exactly are you intending to do?”

“Steal the carriage and take you for the ride of your life, obviously.”

“I suppose you know how to ride?”

“I'm also a fast learner.”

“That's the most terrible idea I've ever heard. I'm in.”

Hester smirked a bit. This definitely wasn't the direction she hoped this night will go to, but there would certainly be better times to steal from the royal palace and you don't get a chance to talk to princesses often.

And she still was a thief. She stole all kinds of things. And in special cases, hearts too. And she definitely started considering Anadil a special case. You definitely don't find a woman that pretty and willing to commit crimes every day.

“Do you know what to do?” she asked, a bit doubtful about how skilled Anadil is going to be.

“Don't worry about that.”

“I'm certainly worried. I'll be the one getting hanged if something goes wrong.”

“Well, then I won't be worried. It was your idea anyway.”

“That doesn't make me feel much better.”

When they walked as close as they could get to the carriage without being seen, Anadil disappeared into the shadows. She knew the garden like her own shoes, all of the best hiding places seemed like home to her.

The carriage driver was already half asleep when she approached him. “I need help, please, follow me,” she said, with the softest and most defenceless voice she could do. He didn't know if he was dreaming or not, but decided to listen to her anyway.

As she led him further and further, the more and more creeped out he started getting. He wanted to turn back, this was getting too dangerous for him. As soon as he turned, he realised he had no idea where he was now, everything around him was dark. And even worse, the woman that led him there just disappeared. He cursed and wished he had stayed in the carriage. Not much later, he heard the clicking of hooves and realised what was happening, even though it was too late to do something.

The second he turned his back on her, Anadil sprinted through the gardens, vines and branches scratching her legs and tearing her dress, but she didn't mind, the pain made her feel alive, it reminded her of her childhood, when she was stealing food from the kitchen and then running away from angry maids.

When she arrived, Hester was actually waiting for her. She doubted it for a bit, thinking the other woman would use the first chance she got to escape from her. She was glad she was mistaken; she appreciated every person willing to talk to her as an equal and ignore her royal blood for a while.

Her life was nice and she never tried to deny it, but there was coldness behind every smile she's ever received, hidden poison behind sweet flattery and people only waiting for their chance to use her for their own good. It was her world and she loved it, she was born for it, equally as cunning, cold and cruel as the others were, but sometimes, she needed a rest.

And sometimes, the best form of a rest was stealing a carriage with a woman in oversized men's clothing that just appeared in her gardens.

“Took you long enough. Get in.”

“I've managed to get it done, haven't I?” she said as she sat next to Hester.

Hester looked at her with curiosity. “Thought you'll get inside.”

“That'll be way too boring. And it's much easier to get kidnapped that way.”

Hester rushed the horses a bit and they started galloping slowly. 

“After everything you've done today, I don't think you're concerned about being kidnapped even the slightest bit.”

“Well, I can't argue with that logic.”

“But no, really, why do all of this?”

Anadil shrugged a bit. “Sometimes a girl needs to have little fun.”

“That's not the whole reason, is it?”

“And, of course, I'm very much willing to do anything to make lord Grey's life more miserable.” Her expression went grim and eyes hardened.

“I suppose you two have got a personal history?”

“He's just an asshole that thinks he can touch women anytime he wants just because he's powerful and rich. Tried it on me once, got away with a few bruises. Then he bothered my maid and I swore to castrate him the next time I see his hideous face. Yes, he laughed at me, but unfortunately seems to avoid me. Such a shame, I really wanted to make it happen.”

Hester looked at her, suddenly feeling even more respect. “I can take care of that.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Deadly.”

“In that case, I'm sure there will be some money in the royal treasury reserved for such a noble cause.”

“Oh, I don't need to get paid to make vermin like him suffer.”

Now it was Anadil's turn to nod approvingly.

Before they could continue the conversation, they were interrupted by loud, aggressive barking coming from behind them.

“I think they've realised the carriage is missing,” remarked Anadil.

“Wow, thank you, I had no idea,” muttered Hester sarcastically, trying to find a way to fasten the horses, but failing.

The hounds were running behind the carriage, getting closer and made the horses even more nervous. When the dogs were close enough to attempt to bite, the horses forgot all about their harnesses and ran like their life depended on it, taking the carriage along. They've separated from the main road and galloped into a forest near. The carriage was moving from one side to another, Hester desperately tried to control the horses, but they were too concerned about their own lives to care about the carriage, getting dragged along like a rag doll.

After they missed a tree just by millimetres, Hester screamed: “We need to jump!”

“That's a terrible idea,” remarked Anadil, way too calm.

“Why exactly?”

“At this speed we'll get impaled by a tree. Or the dogs will catch us.”

“We can solve that later,” said Hester as she jumped, dragging Anadil along with her.

The fall was everything but pleasant. Hester landed in a very thorny shrub and the next thing she felt was Anadil's whole weight falling right onto her. Struggling to breathe, she pushed her off.

“Holy shit, you're heavy.”

“Bet you're not a bag of feathers either,” muttered Anadil, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

“You could have at least tried to not elbow me into the ribs.”

“I sure could if you at least gave me a warning.”

Hester opened her mouth to respond, but they heard footsteps, getting closer and closer to them. “I think they should be somewhere around here, they couldn't get so far.”

Anadil quickly stood up and then offered her hand to Hester, who thankfully accepted.

“We should get away really quick,” Anadil whispered.

“Wow, thanks for stating the obvious,” groaned Hester.

And they ran, hand in hand, zigzagging between the trees, until their legs hurt, they only stopped when the voices already faded into distance. They slid under a stone ledge, their bodies pressed together.

“Well, this wasn't the direction I thought this night will go to,” said Anadil casually.

Hester just stared at her, realising just how terribly close their faces were and how pretty her eyes and smile were, how sweet her lips looked and how much she wanted to kiss her and-

Anadil obviously had the same thought, but unlike her, she didn't bother with overthinking. She just kissed her and before she could start regretting the decision, Hester kissed back and they just stayed like that for what seemed like forever, both hot and sweaty and adrenaline running through their veins, holding onto each other like it was the end of the world.

When they separated to breathe, Anadil muttered: “Still not the direction I expected this night will go to, but I'm not complaining.”

And Hester kissed her, again and again, because the night had just begun.

...

The second time they've met, at the exact same place and time, Hester tried to pretend she still tried to steal from the palace, but as it happened again and again, she didn't even bother lying to herself.

They've spent nights talking, doing the most dumb and reckless thing they could think of or, if one of them was too tired, just being there for each other.

They knew each other too well, so it was no surprise that Hester instantly saw something was wrong.

“Ani, did something happen?” Hester asked, sitting on the tree that became their usual meeting spot.

“Yes,” she said as she climbed alongside her. Hester looked at her, disappointed she didn't get a kiss as a greeting just as she always did.

Anadil took a deep breath and then said: “I think we should stop.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Hester, dread twisting in her gut.

“Everything. This whole meeting up thing.”

“I don't understand,” Hester said, frustrated and angry and sad and overflowing with emotion. “Do you just not love me or did I do something wrong or do you like someone else or-”

She calmed a bit when she felt Anadil's hand on her shoulder. “Nothing like that. I love you more than anything, but I'm getting married and I don't think this is a good idea.”

“Why not? It's not like he won't have affairs.”

“I thought that nothing would change, but I've met him today and he very explicitly said that if I ever try to cheat, we're both dead.”

“Nobody knows we're meeting,” protested Hester.

“It's harder to sneak out of my bedroom when there's another person in.”

“You're just trying to find reasons why it won't work.”

“Because it just won't.”

“See? You're not listening.”

“I'm not listening? You're ignoring everything I'm saying,” said Anadil.

“Whatever. If you wanted to break up with me, you should have just said it. No need to make up a story,” blurted Hester.

“Hester. Can you listen to me for one second?”

“No. Fuck you. If you don't care then fine, I don't give a shit too. Happy?” she said and climbed off the tree. She started walking away, her emotions battling inside of her.

“Come back. Please.” It was a miracle Hester could even hear her voice, it was so weak and sad, barely even a whisper and however angry she was, she couldn't just leave.

She climbed back to see Anadil with tears rolling down her face silently. She sighed, then pulled her into a hug, slowly rubbing her back as she cried on her shoulder.

“I just don't want you to get hurt,” she whispered. “I don't even care about what happens to me. I just want you to be safe and sound and forget about me and find yourself a nice girl that won't have a kingdom to take care of and-”

She was cut off with a kiss.

“I have no interest in anyone that's not you. Understand, idiot?” muttered Hester, pulling her even closer, as if she could make all their problems go away just by holding her tight.

“But-”

Hester kissed her forehead. “No buts. Now stop crying, we need to figure out a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Yes. I'm not letting you marry that asshole.”

“It's my duty to my country and family.”

“Fuck your duty, there must be a way to get out of this.”

“I've tried convincing my parents before. They won't just cancel the engagement. There's no way.”

“Here you go again with your “no way”. There's always a way.”

“Find it then, if you're so smart. There's a week until the wedding.”

“Oh, I don't need a week. Have you ever heard of the sad princess?”

“Isn't that a fairytale?”

“Yes, exactly. Do you know what happens in it?”

“No idea.”

“The princess is supposed to marry a man, but she loves someone else. She decides to not laugh, smile and eat, her parents, worried sick about her, promise to marry her off to anyone that can make her laugh.”

“You’re suggesting that we do that? That's the most terrible idea I've ever heard.”

“You say that every time I have an idea.”

“You always overcome yourself. Well, I thought you'd just say I should push him out of the window.”

“That wouldn't stop your parents from promising you to the first single prince they see.”

Anadil sighed. “Do you honestly think it will work?”

“Do you have anything to lose?”

“My head, first of all?”

“It'll be fine. And if it isn't, I'm burning down the whole palace and running away with you to another country,” Hester whispered to her, trying to convince herself that she's right and everything will work out in the end.

She wasn't afraid to die, she knew it would happen once the time is right, but the thought of anything happening to Anadil was just straight up terrifying and she definitely wasn't going to let that happen.

...

And, as surprising as it may sound, the plan worked. Anadil didn't find it hard to appear sad, she had plenty of experience of keeping her emotions in check when in court, the only thing that changed was the fact she didn't have to fake laugh and smile politely while talking to other bothersome royals.

Her parents reacted just as the fairytale foretold, which surprised her, until Hester told her about how she threatened the local priest, to whom the king and his wife went for advice, to tell them what to do.

People from all countries visited and tried to make her laugh, but even the funniest men failed, for she was stubborn, determined and in love and there was no way they could stop her.

But as time went on and on, she was getting nervous. She trusted Hester whole-heartedly, but after a week, she couldn't help herself and doubted if she would ever come. At first, she thought she was making her wait as a kind of petty revenge, but soon realised it was too unlike her.

After another week, she finally understood. She just didn't care, it was all a game to her, she had her fun and now left as if nothing ever happened.

She wanted to sigh from frustration as another man told a joke, which was intended to be well thought out and intellectual, but he had to read it from a book, for it was too long and complicated to remember and the speed of his speech caused Anadil to space out.

“Next!” commanded one of the servants.

Anadil glanced at the newcomer. She recognised the woman, she was one of the guards. What was her name? Beatrix?

She bowed deeply. “Your majesty, I came on the behalf of a prisoner, who wishes to attempt to make the princess laugh.”

“Let her come in,” said the king, unamused.

This finally sparked Anadil's curiosity. That would explain a lot of things. She hoped and prayed, her fingers crossed.

And this time, she really had luck, because it really was Hester, dirty and bruised, but with a smirk on her face and messy hair, it was still her Hester. She wanted to smile just at the sight of her, but had to wait, only for a while, just to not make it as obvious.

Hester bowed and then started: “As you can see, I've really enjoyed a dose of our justice system. I have one very little complaint. The prisons are too warm for my taste. You know, justice is a dish best served cold, otherwise it'll be justwater.”

And Anadil laughed, it was probably the dumbest joke she's heard that day and she loved it, she loved it way too much and she was just glad Hester finally came, because oh god, she missed her.

“I guess we found a winner,” said the king with a smile on his face.

Hester turned to him. “Your majesty, as much as I'd love to accept, I believe the final decision should be made by the princess.”

And all the eyes went to Anadil, who smirked for a little bit. “I want to marry her.”

So it was settled. As they were leaving the court, they finally managed to find some time for themselves.

“So, do I get a kiss from my new fiancée?”

“Once you take a bath. You look terrible,” said Anadil, kissing her anyway, even though her lips were dirty and dry, she wanted to stay this way forever, just like they had their own fairytale ending.

They were only interrupted by one of the maids catching them.

“Erm, I have duties to attend to, if you excuse me,” muttered Anadil, leaving hurriedly.

“See you later, fiancée.”

No more climbing through windows just to spend a while together. Now they've had all the time in the world and they finally could enjoy it.


End file.
